Ben Singer (Matthew Broderick) is a bitter cynic who is stuck in a dead-end job and always railing against his imaginary The Man (Philip Baker Hall). He's divorced from Eliza (Ally Walker) and his daughter Sandra (Jodelle Ferland) is struggling in all the negativity. His only friend and Senegalese roommate Ibou (Michael K. Williams) falls into a diabetic coma. His car gets towed after a complaint by an uncaring neighbor. Ibou's sister Khadi (Sanaa Lathan) arrives from Senegal. Ben's workmate Cyril (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) finds out that he used to be a successful kid entertainer and tries to befriend him.

Despite Ben's relentless cynicism, I still kind of like him. Matthew Broderick has that kind of world weariness from his performance in Election. This is a black comedy but I don't necessarily find it funny. It's actually sincere in its misanthropic vision. I like his relationship with his daughter. There are holes in his life story. The character was once a successful man. There must be a wealth of material to dig into from that situation. Also I think his relationship with Khadi could be resolved better.

Bottom Line, this is an interesting cynic's lament but it could have been funnier.

Don't use my rating as a guide to how much you will like the film. Prior to watching this film I watched "Humboldt County", another Magnolia film. While different, they all run the same. There is one main character who has a big character flaw caused by the "system." He undergoes a series of life changing events, changes his outlook, and lives happily ever after. Toss in a divorced family and a cute daughter beyond her years in mental maturity and you have a Magnolia film.

In this movie, Bill Singer (Matthew Broderick) is a pessimist who doesn't trust anyone and goes through the whole movie with the same 3 day growth on his face. He never shaves, nor does his beard grow out, perhaps a metaphor for his life stuck in neutral. He was once a singer of children's songs, but never made it big enough to be successful. His roommate goes into a diabetic coma and Broderick gets fired from his job. Meanwhile, his daughter, living with her mother and beyond her years in maturity, doesn't want to spend her weekends with Broderick, because he is a pessimist!!!!

While his roommate (and best friend) is in the hospital, roomies' hot sister comes to visit. They bump dirty parts and she has an effect on his life too...ad nauseum. Yes it is heart warming, enjoyable, funny at times, bittersweet, blah blah blah. There are some scenes where Broderick imagines himself talking to "the man" who looks a lot like Philip Baker Hall. .

WONDERFUL WORLD (2010) *** Matthew Broderick, Sanaa Lathan, Michael K. Williams, Jodelle Ferland, Philip Baker Hall, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ally Walker. Broderick is in fine form as a jaded, misanthropic former singer/songwriter of children's' tunes whose lack of ambition is only exceeded by his self-loathing and apathy of everyone and everything. One fateful day awakens him to new possibilities when his Senegalese roomie (Williams) suffers a diabetic shock to the system/coma and new hope arrives in the form of his comely sister (Lathan equally good here) who comes to stay with Broderick awaiting out the progress reports. What follows is a relatively well-acted dramedy with some intriguing looks at just how the socio-economic status is so in flux with what should be right and should be wrong thanks to novice director Joshua Goldin's sharply etched screenplay. The film's only falter is the ill-advised use of an imaginary character, "The Man" (veteran character actor Baker Hall) who is pretty much forgotten in the process.